


Knight In Shining Armour

by NateTheWolf



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, Human!Doctor, Knight!Amy, Medieval AU, OC's - Freeform, Were!Clara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NateTheWolf/pseuds/NateTheWolf
Summary: There Is A Beast Among Us! We Must Defeat It!(Re-Uploaded)





	1. If I Don't Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Celebration In The Tavern.

The tavern was heaving with drunken villagers, guards, and some knights who sat at their table in the back. Everybody's laughter and cheers echoed throughout the rest of the village, as well as some beers being smashed together in celebration.  

"Let us toast!" One of the knights stood up and raised his glass, "for tomorrows eve we fight the beast!" 

"Hurrah!" They all cheered as they clanked their drinks together, and then started to gulp them down.  

"Oi!" Someone shouted from the door, "Celebrating without me are ya?" 

"Ah, the female," a brunet knight glared at her as he lowered his beer to the table slowly.   

"Yes Zachery, 'the female', who is actually a knight like you," she sauntered over to the table full of knights. "Also known as Amelia Pond." The two knights stared at each other as the tavern fell silent looking at them. After what felt like hours of silence and glaring at one another, the red-head winked at Zachery earning a smirk from his end. 

"Of course, Amelia, the knight who is going to another kingdom next week. I suppose this counts as a farewell celebration?" 

"Celebration? Aw, I didn't know you hated me that much," she pouted. That pout quickly turned into a grin when she noticed that her friend had blushed. "Why can't we do the farewell party when I actually leave eh?" 

The knights all looked down and shuffled awkwardly under her confused gaze. They all knew the reason they were celebrating now, and not later, or once they have actually defeated the beast. It was Zachary, the head knight's, idea to have one last laugh together as a family before their journey to the woods. 

"That's the thing Amelia, we don't know who will come back when we fight the beast," Frederick, the blond next to Zachary, admitted.  

"The beast? You're all going?" She asked as she looked up at Zachary, who had dread all over his features.  

"Yes. The king has ordered it," Zachary sighed as he looked down. "No wonder he did not tell you, he will need at least one knight for if we all die." 

"You cannot be serious?" 

"Aye," he looked back up at the female knight, cleared his throat, and raised a glass. "Enough of this gloomy talk! We shall celebrate your achievement and our quest!" 

"Here, here," said Frederick as he mimicked his friend. "May this be our..." 

"Celebration!" Amelia picked up a spare jug on the table and raised it in the air, then chugged it down letting some of the alcohol drizzle down her chin.  

The other knights stared wide-eyed, shocked, at how she drank the beer (that wasn't hers) so carefree. Zachary cleared his throat when she noticed them staring at her and guzzled down his own beer, followed by everyone else.  

After a night of drinking everyone left the tavern and parted ways to go home, everyone except Zachary and Amelia.  

"So..." Amelia started as they walked to her house. "You're actually fighting the beast tomorrow's eve?" 

"Yes," Zachary sighed as he stopped at her door. "The king's orders I'm afraid. We cannot go against the king." 

"That's true." 

"Amelia, if I do not come ba-" he started but got cut off. 

"Do not even say that Zachary," she frowned as a tear ran down her face.  

"In case I do not survive..." He gently grabbed her cheek and wiped away her tear. "Do not be reckless, you need to be in good shape for you to be transferred." 

"On one condition," she sniffed and looked at him. "You try your best to survive, for me." 

Zachary kissed her on the lips passionately, which surprised Amelia at first, but she kissed back slightly before he pulled away. "I'm sorry Amelia, I should have asked first. Think of it as a farewell kiss... I guess." 

"Y-Yes... I have to go now. Goodbye Zachary," the red-head walked into her house and quickly shut the door. She didn’t move until she knew for certain that her best friend was gone, and she slid down to the floor hugging her knees. Before she knew it, the knight was crying, burying her head into her knees. 

The next morning Amelia didn’t get out of bed until the afternoon, suffering from a hangover and her mixed feelings. Zachary was her best friend for many years, he was the only one who supported her to become a knight and to work hard enough to get sent to King Williams' castle. So why did it feel so strange when he kissed her? After all, she had known his feelings towards her for quite some time now, but they were never reciprocated. Anytime she winked at him, or tried to look cute, he would blush and turn away as if it was wrong for him to look. Why did it feel strange? The puzzled Amelia thought about it for hours until she realized that she hadn't eaten all day, and decided to go to the kitchen to see what she has.  

"What am I doing?" Amelia asked herself as she picked at a loaf of bread in her kitchen. "Why did I shut him out?" 

As if on cue Zachary knocked on her door, "Amelia, we are going to go to defeat the beast now. It would be great if I could see you." She didn't know what to do, so the tall girl just hid from the window away from Zachary's view. A few moments passed and the knight walked away when he got called over by Frederick.  

For the rest of the day she stayed at home to avoid everyone, and eventually fell asleep on her bed until the next morning.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to re-upload it because I messed up! 
> 
> Please tell me what you think!
> 
> -Nate


	2. Humour Strings

"Amelia!"  

The scot jumped out of bed to the door, that was almost broken down by the guard hitting it loudly to get her attention, and opened it. "Lance, what is it?" She asked groggily as her adrenaline suddenly left her.  

"It's Zachary miss, he-" Lance didn't get a chance to finish after that as Amelia grabbed him by the shoulders.  

"What happened? He's alive, right? Did he get hurt? Where is he?" 

"Amelia, please calm down and stop shaking me!" Once she realised what she was doing she stopped and stepped back. "Now," Lance straightened up. "He is alive and at the castle, although he is in critical condition from his fight with the beast. He is the only one to have survived, god bless their souls." 

"H-He was the only one?" She stammered as she peered over his short figure and put her hands gently on Lance's shoulders. "Take me to him." 

Without a second thought Lance nodded and took her to the castle's spare room where Zachary was being kept.  

"Ah Amelia," the Doctor smiled as she walked in. "For Zachary, I assume." 

"Yes, is he..." Amelia swallowed the lump in her throat, "o-okay?" 

"He is in pain and had severe scratches, but he should be fine. Just needs good ol' rest." 

"Thank you, Doctor," she smiled slightly and looked over to Zachary all bandaged up on the bed.  

"Amelia, trust me, he is going to be fine. Zachary should make a full recovery in a few weeks, just do not worry him," he smiled and rubbed her back. "We do not want him to fall off the bed, do we?" 

Amelia laughed a little at the Doctor's remark. "How long has he been asleep for?" 

"Two hours," he smiled. "You are looking pale, care for a check-up?" 

"Oh, shush Doctor, you know that I'm naturally pale, unlike you," she laughed.  

"Great to see the news has not dented your humour string," he grinned as he wandered over to his desk.  

"Please, we do not have humour strings." 

"If you say so Miss. Pond," he smirked as he grabbed a book and moved it to cover his face. 

"You're not serious, are you?" The tall knight asked as she approached him. "Doctor, we do not actually have humour strings, do we?" 

"You never know unless you pull them out," he lowered the book and the burst into laughter at her confused expression. "No, of course we do not Amelia." 

"Oh, you a-" she went to hit the Doctor, but got interrupted by a small chuckle coming from the bed. 

"Language Amelia, how would your Aunt feel if she knew that I let you swear." Zachary smirked as he looked at her. "Too worried about me to get dressed huh?" 

The girl blushed as she looked down at her nightgown. "I guess so?" 

"Sweet," he flinched as he moved up slightly.  

"Ah! Do not move mister, you're really hurt," Doctor commanded. 

Amelia walked over to the bed and kneeled down beside it, grasping Zachary's non-injured hand. "Listen to the Doctor Zachary, how are you feeling anyhow?" 

"Better now that you are here," he smiled. "How long do I have to stay in bed Doctor?" 

"Just a few days, then you can walk around, and after a few weeks you'll be as free as a daisy! Wait, is that the right expression? Daisy's do not wander around, they are stuck in the ground..." 

The two knights laugh a little at the Doctors rant about the flower, and Zachary's other hand grasped the red-head's. "Thank you." 

Amelia blinked a few times at him, trying to comprehend what he had said. "Why?" 

"Thank you for being here." 

"Why would I not be here?" 

"You did not see me after I kissed you, however you might not have been up at that time," he smiled sadly. "You always were the one to sleep the following day after a night of drinking." 

There was an awkward pause between the two, all the while the Doctor was rambling on to himself about Daisy's. 

"What does the beast look like? You're the only one to survive such an attack," Amelia smiled slightly trying to change the subject, as she looked at the dried blood on the bandages.  

"It was huge, at least a tree's height," he frowned. "We did not stand a chance against it." 

"I am sorry for the loss of your brothers," she looked down trying to bravely hold back tears.  

"They were your brothers too Amelia, I am sorry for not protecting them." 

"No, do not apologise for that. If you had you would be dead, and that I could not bear." Tears started streaming down her face.  

"Amelia..." Zachary could not think of anything else to say besides her name. He merely reached out to her face and cupped it in his palm, and smiled sweetly at her. "Please do not cry." 

"Yes, crying does not suit you," the Doctor interjected as he went to sit down on his chair. "It is a horrid thing to do." 

Amelia sniffled and giggled slightly at his attempt to lighten the mood. It had surprisingly worked, until there was a knock at the door to reveal Lance. "I am sorry to interrupt, but the king wants to see Amelia, immediately." 

"I wanted to talk to him too," she smiled and wiped away her tears before standing up heading to the door. "Doctor, take care of him, will you?" 

"Of course, Miss. Pond." 

Once Amelia was lead to the throne room to meet the king Lance grabbed a blanket to put over her. "Thank you, Lance." 

"Amelia," King Lucas started as he sat down on his throne. "I am sorry to hear about your brothers and Zachary, I do hope he recovers well." 

"As do I, your majesty," she bowed to him. "May I ask what the reason is that you have called upon me?" 

"Ah yes," he smiled down at her. "Since we have lost the majority of our unit, I have asked King Williams that you stay here a few weeks longer until we get our numbers up. Is that okay with you?" 

"That is alright with me, your majesty," the scot smiled. "May I ask something of you, sir?" 

"You may." 

"I ask that you allow me to venture into the woods to defeat this beast." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger????? Eh, maybe. I'm not sure. 
> 
> Sorry for the lack of descriptive words and stuff.
> 
> -Nate


	3. Apple Picking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelia hears humming from a tree.

After a day of preparing Amelia got on her horse, Chestnut, and rode off to the forest. Everyone knew that it took a half a day to get to the woods from the village, so Amelia tried her best to get to the so called 'Beast Cave' before night fall to slay it. She hoped that the beast would be asleep as she knew that she would struggle to defeat it by herself if it was awake. Once she knew there was a good amount of distance between her and the village the female knight stopped near some apple trees.  

"We better get some food, 'ey Chestnut," the red-head dismounted her horse and looked up at the red fruit. Just as she was about to pick one from a branch, Amelia stopped when she heard humming from beyond the tree. "Who's there?" 

The humming suddenly stopped and a thud was heard accompanied with a yelp. Amelia quickly ran to the source to find a girl on the ground next to the large tree. This girl looked up at the knight, their eyes meeting in an instance and not moving for a long time. Once the brown eyed girl looked away from Amelia's face, her own going red in embarrassment, the taller girl looked over her and noticed how short she was compared to her, and her brown hair flowing to her shoulders. Her figure earned a similar blush from the red-head.  

"Are you okay? Wait, did you just fall out of a tree?" The knight rushed over and kneeled down next to the girl.  

"Oh... Y-Yeah..." The girl smiled sheepishly. "The best apples are at the top ma'am." 

"Ma'am? Oh please, just call me Amelia," she gave a nonchalant smile. "What is your name lass?" 

"Clara," the brunette smiled and extended her hand. "Clara Oswald." 

The scot smiled and shook it, "Nice to meet you Clara Oswald, I am Amelia Pond." 

"That is a nice name," Clara mused. Their hands stayed intertwined longer than they should have as they smiled at each other, and enjoyed the sound of trees rustling in the wind. The moment passed as Clara jumped when Chestnut decided to trot over and disturb them with a loud huff. "Y-Yours?" 

"Oh yeah, his name's Chestnut, after the colour he is. He also seemed to like it," Amelia smiled as she looked back at her horse hitting his hoof against the mud, and then she turned back to Clara. "Do you not like horses?" 

"Um... They are not my f-favourite animal no, too big for comfort," she looked up at Chestnut then back to her apples on the floor. "Damn, they all fell." 

The knight followed her gaze and frowned at the apples noticing the sight made the shorter girl pout. "Ah, there's no need to worry lass, I will help you get more apples. How many do you need?" 

"Um... As many as my basket can carry- Lass?" Clara looked at her confused. "What is that?" 

"A Scottish thing, love. Lassie, means girl," she laughed. "Do you not like the little nick name, lass?" 

"Hmm. May I give you a nick name then?" The brunette smirked as Amelia nodded. "Amy." 

"Amy?" She frowned. 

Clara nodded triumphantly, "Yes, short for Amelia. What if we get in trouble whilst getting apples? Saying 'Amy' instead of 'Amelia' will save time, and our lives." 

"Haha, you have thought this through eh?" 

"I guess I have," she stood up and looked up at the knight. "Are you okay with that, Amy?" 

"Yes, very much. What danger can we have here though? You falling out of trees?" 

Clara giggled, "That happens more often than you might think." 

"I better be here to catch you then," Amy smiled at the shorter girl and winked. "C'mon, let us get some food." 

"Yes ma'm," the brunette fake saluted before she ran up the tree, and clung onto a branch. "You'll catch me yeah?" 

"Absolutely." 

"Promise?" 

Amelia smiled up at the girl, "Promise." 

Clara jumped from each branch as she looked at each apple carefully, before grabbing or dismissing some. The knight looked at the shorter girl, stood up, and then picked up the straw basket that was on the floor in case she needed it. After a few moments of watching Clara picking apples, the smaller girl managed to strike up a conversation.  

"Judging by your attire you are a knight?" 

"Yes, I am." 

"A female knight?"  

"First one as I know. Got a problem with that?" 

"Of course not. Are you here for the same reason those other knights were the other day?" She asked as she climbed down the tree to the grass, and placed the red apples in the basket being held by Amy. 

"Yes... You saw Zachary?" 

"Yes," Clara looked up. "Friend of yours I assume. He did say you were in the village, he spoke fondly of you. Then he 'ordered' me to go home because it was dangerous here." 

"Did you?" 

"No, my home is far away from here. But I did take shelter in a cave last night," she smiled up at Amy as she grabbed an apple from the basket. "Want one?" 

"Thanks," she grabbed the apple and bit into it. "Hmm, it is true." 

"Wha'sh tru?" Clara spoke as she munched on the fruit. 

"Best apples are at the top," the red-head winked. "May Chestnut have one?" 

"Do horses eat apples?" Before Amelia could reply Chestnut trotted over and huffed again, scaring the younger girl. "I g-guess so." 

Amelia laughed at her as she gave her horse an apple, "You really do not like horses do ye." 

"It is not really a dislike, they are just big and noisy... They s-scare me a little," Clara jumped, and squeaked as Chestnut moved his nose into her shoulder.  

"Aw, that is adorable," Amy giggled. She approached Chestnut, patted her horse on the neck, and then turned back to the villager. "Do you know why it is dangerous here?" 

"No, why is it dangerous?" 

"A beast that we have tried hunting down for the past year resides in these woods," she started. "It is very dangerous to be here, especially a wee lass like you." 

"A short joke, really?" The brunette pouted and huffed like a child. "Just because you are made of legs-" 

"Excuse me?" The knight narrowed her eyes at her. 

"Uh... I d-did not me-" she stammered and blushed under the taller girl's gaze. 

Amelia laughed at the girl getting flustered. "It is alright lass, I am just teasing." 

Clara just looked down, and munched on her apple. "W-When do you have to go back?" 

"When I finish my quest. Speaking of, I should get to it... Is it a wolf moon tonight?" 

"Not that I know of..." Clara trailed off as she felt a drop of water fall on her head. "Ah, rain." 

"You mentioned that your home is far away, exactly how far have you travelled?" She asked as she got on Chestnut.  

"Far... As I also mentioned, I do take shelter in a cave not that far from here." 

"You are not scared of the beast?" 

"No. I have heard that this beast looks more like a wolf. Have you?" She asked as she picked up her basket. 

"I have not," Amelia extended her hand to the shorter girl. "To the cave yeah?" 

"You do n-" 

"I shall," she smiled. "We can take shelter from the rain in the cave until morning, then I will take you to my village." 

Clara thought about it for a bit, and sighed when she figured out there's no choice other than to go with Amy. The knight grabbed her hand, and pulled her onto Chestnut, who moved forward making the villager cling onto the taller girl's torso. "It is okay las, he is not used to two people on him." 

"O-Okay..." 

They rode off to the cave to keep out of the rain, that was heavily coming down by the time they reached their destination. "Whoo, got here just in time eh?" 

"Yeah, we did. Thank you, Amy," Clara smiled. "Why did you come to- Ah!" 

The girl shrieked, and trembled as a loud noise and light flash came from outside, which also scared Chestnut at first. Amelia calmed her horse down then looked at her companion. "Scared of storms huh?" 

"Y-Yea-ah!"  

Amelia noticed Clara trembling and walked over to comfort her. "Hey lass, it will be okay. We're safe here." 

"I-I know... I just do not l-like the- eek!" The brunette jumped and clung the taller girl whining. "Ah, s-sorry." 

She laughed, and hugged Clara. "You are adorable, and it is okay Clara, I will hold you for as long as you need." 

"Th-Thank you," she stuttered as she tightened her grip on Amy. All throughout the night, the red-head was comforting the whining girl by humming the tune that her Aunt would sing to her when she was scared. The soft vibrations of her chest, and the tune, made Clara feel better and calm down slightly. Eventually, they both fell asleep in each other's arms on the cave floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you like it! Sorry for making Clara slightly OOC, but even then she's bound to be since this is a medieval AU. 
> 
> -Nate


	4. Those Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the storm.

Amy awoke to see Clara curled into her, and holding her arm. The sight made her grin, and stroke the girl's hair. This made her smile in her sleep, and move her head towards her hand with a content hum. Clara fluttered her eyes open, and stretched until she noticed how close she was to the knight and jumped away blushing.  

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Amy frowned. 

"Uh... N-No," she looked down. "S-Sorry." 

"What for?" 

"I was..." The girl looked up and froze as she looked behind Amy.  

"Amelia." 

The knight spun around and saw Zachary next to Chestnut stroking his hair. "Who is the girl?" 

"Zachary... Why are you here?! You should be in bed!" Amelia rose up and stormed over to him. "Where is Cali?" 

"Cali is just outside. I am here because I heard you were going to slay the beast on your own, you cannot do that Amelia. Who is that?" He pointed at the girl who sat still on the ground. 

"Her name is Clara, I met her yesterday. Why did the Doctor not stop you?" 

"He was not in the room when I left, do not blame him," the soaking wet man said as he looked over Clara. "She looks eerily familiar." 

"You met her on your travel the other day," she rolled her eyes. "Get on Cali and leave, better yet, take Clara with you." 

"W-What?" Clara walked up to them. "W-What about you?" 

"I am not taking her, I am here to take yo- That is why you are so familiar! Your eyes!" 

His outburst frightened the small girl, "W-What s-sir?" 

"Her eyes are like the beast's! The same mud brown," he frowned as he edged closer to her.  

"I-I thought wolves had yellow eyes, sir," Clara leaned away from him and looked up at Amy. 

"Who said it was a wolf?" 

"S-Stories..." 

"Well, the beast did not! It had brown eye-" Zachary got cut off by a rather irritated Amelia. 

"I have brown eyes too Zachary! Am I the beast too?! No! Leave the poor lass alone." 

"How are you in this cave? This is the beast's home, it should have found you. Unless, it was already there," the knight looked over at Clara. "Come home now, Amelia." 

She groaned, "If I do will you leave her alone? We all know the beast is a beast, not a girl." 

"I shall." 

"Come on then lass, we are going to the village. The next wolf moon I will go after the beast," Amelia said as she hopped on Chestnut.  

"You will not! And why are we taking her? She is not from here," Zachary walked over to his white horse, Cali.  

"We cannot leave her here," Chestnut trotted over to Clara, who moved back slightly, and Amy reached for her hand. "Come on love, just like last night. I will protect you from the mean guy over there." 

Clara looked over at Zachary then back up at Amy, and giggled as she took her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the chapter being so short, but I'm posting (hopefully) another one today to make up for it.
> 
> -Nate


	5. Heading Straight For The Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara meets royalty for the first time.

The two knights bickered on their journey back to the village about Zachary's well-being, and that the king had let Amelia go to defeat the beast. Once they got through the village gates everybody stared at them, and then the muttering began. Amelia smirked when she heard some of the villagers saying how reckless her friend was for getting out of bed before his wounds were healed. Whereas Clara buried her head into the female knight's back when she heard people mutter about her, seeing as she has never been in that village before.  

When the red-head noticed this, she grabbed Clara's hand gently and rubbed her thumb along her knuckles soothingly. "It is okay Clara, you are new, they will be curious," she whispered. "We're almost at the castle." 

"C-Castle?" 

"Yes, I need to see the king. Plus, we can see Zachary get scolded by him, it will be funny," she giggled as they rode to the doors of the castle. "Here we are." 

The Doctor walked up to Zachary and hit him over the head with a cloth once he got off Cali, which made the red-head grin. Zachary groaned as he got told off by the older man, and then walked inside.  

Lance approached Amelia and grabbed the reins of Chestnut to steady him as she got off, and then he noticed Clara. "Who might this be?" He asked as the knight helped her off the horse. 

The girl looked up at him and smiled. "H-Hello, I am Clara," she shakily extended her hand out to him. "Nice to meet you." 

"Nice to meet you too," he grinned and shook her hand, then looked up at Amelia. "Finally, somebody that is shorter than me." 

Amy laughed when she saw the girl pout, "Yes well, it is not a competition. Just because I am..." She cleared her throat and mimicked Clara's voice as best as she could with a smirk. "Made of legs." 

The knight looked at the girl, who snapped her head up at her and blushed. "Haha, sorry las, I just had to," she laughed as she put her arm around the girl's shoulders. "This is Lance by the way." 

"Ah yes, I did not introduce myself, did I? Well, young lady, if you need anything I am the person to ask." 

"May we see the king now?" Amelia asked.  

"Yes, go ahead. If you are lucky, you might see Zachary get a bollocking of the king," Lance smiled as he took Chestnut to the stables.  

"C'mon Clara," the taller girl grabbed her hand and dragged her to the throne room.  

"Um... I-Is now a good time to mention that I have never... seen or spoke to royalty before?" 

"I guess not," Amy stopped just outside the door and looked at the girl. "Just follow my lead, and only speak when spoken to, alright?" 

Clara nodded and took a deep breathe. They could hear King Lucas yelling at Zachary through the door, which delighted the female knight. Zachary walked out and saw them, "Why is it here?" 

Amelia frowned, " _She_ has a name, and we are here to talk to the king." 

The male knight just huffed and walked back to his quarters to the Doctor. "H-He really does not like me, does he?" 

"It seems not," the tall girl sighed as she peered her head through the door. "Sire, may I have a chat?" 

"Ah Amelia, yes, please come in. I understand you have brought a girl with you?" Amy nodded as she walked in with Clara being held next to her. "Hello there, what might your name be?" 

"C-Clara sir," she looked up at him. As soon as she did she noticed the red jewels strung up on his neck, the shining gold crown resting upon his head, and the number of patterned layers of clothing he wore. When she realised the comparison of his layers to hers, she suddenly felt like she needed another item of clothing just to feel decent looking.  

"That is such a nice name," he smiled. "Please come forward, let me look at you, Clara." 

The younger girl looked up at the knight slightly, and then took two steps forward when she felt a hand on her back. That sudden lack of any sort of human contact made her feel uneasy, and she just wanted to run back to Amy for emotional warmth. King Lucas circled the girl and looked over her, much like a shark circling its prey before it attacks. This thought arose in the brunette's mind, and it made her shuffle awkwardly in the spot looking down at her feet. Amy noticed her discomfort and went to ask him to stop, but before she could he did so. "What village are you from? No villager of mine has this Celestine colour tunic." 

"Um... Just f-from the north, sir," she replied cautiously as she eyed his hand that was feeling her sleeve.  

Lucas walked up to her and lifted her head to face his, "Matthew's village then?" Clara gulped and nodded. "Zachary was right about your eyes, they are lovely." 

Before she has a chance to thank him Amy interjected, "Did Zachary tell you his thoughts of her being the beast?" 

King Lucas let go of Clara and nodded to his knight, "He was really persistent about it." 

"I think it hit him over the head," she giggled, and it earned a soft chuckle from the king. "I was hoping that Clara can stay with me until I leave." 

"She can stay here," he walked back and sat on his throne. "You will have a change of clothes, and all the food you can eat." 

Amelia suddenly felt protective of the girl, and stood next to her. "I think she would be more comfortable with somebody she knows, your majesty." 

Clara looked up at her with a small smile, and then back at the king. "I-I would prefer it if I w-was with A-Amy, s-sir," she stammered and held the taller girls hand.  

"Amy?" He frowned. "You cannot even get her name right girl." 

"Amy is short for Amelia, your majesty," the knight gripped onto the shorter girl's hand in comfort. "We have given each other nicknames." 

"Oh, very well," he groaned. "You two may stay together until you leave for Williams' village." 

They smiled at each other and Amelia thanked the king with a bow, and Clara followed the action. When the king dismissed them, the knight wanted to go to the Doctor's room for them to meet, and to rub the villager's staying in Zachary's face.  

"Amelia, I am ever so sorry the- Who is this?" The Doctor gave a goofy grin towards Clara as he walked up to them.  

"Doctor, this is Clara, a friend I picked up on my little adventure in the woods. Clara, this is the Doctor, the best surgeon in this place." 

"Ah, hello Clara," he shook her hand and smiled sweetly at her. "As I was saying, I am sorry about not being here when Zachary left." 

"It is alright, he should have listened to you. I assume his recovery is going to be longer?" She eyed the still bandaged knight lying down in the bed.  

"Is she staying?" He asked as he nodded his head towards the girl, who was still being held by the Doctor.  

"Yes," Amy smiled. "The whole beast thing did not work on the king, if you must know." 

Zachary huffed and folded his arms like a child. Whereas the Doctor finally let go of Clara and looked over her, "Beast? Her? You?" 

"T-That is what he b-believes, sir," Clara looked at the Doctor.  

"Hmm. Zachary, was the beast wolf-like?" 

"Yes, basically a large wolf with her eyes," he frowned. "Why?" 

"Oh Doctor, please say you are not believing him," Amy groaned as she held the villager close.  

"No, no I am not. Have you ever heard of a were-wolf though?" He asked as he skidded over to his cluttered desk, and rummaged through his books.  

"T-They are mystical b-beings, sir," the girl looked at him confused. 

"Yes, but do you know of them?" He picked up a book, "Human in the day, wolf by night." 

"Yes," Clara said timidly.  

"Are you suggesting that she is a were-wolf?" Amy sighed as she looked over at the Doctor. 

"Well, this book says about them. Of course, it is fictional, but there can always be an element of truth in magical beings. How do you think people come up with them? Also, no Amelia, I am not suggesting or accusing your friend of being a were-wolf, besides, they are only males mentioned, no such thing as a female were-wolf. If you believe in those superstitions." 

"You said there is an element of truth behind them though," Zachary leaned forwards. "There could be a female one, they just have not mentioned them because they are weak compared to the male ones." 

"Are you suggesting females are weak?" Doctor asked. "May I remind you that you have been here countless times because of Amelia." Clara couldn’t help but giggle at his remark, earning a grin from Amelia, but a scowl from Zachary, which made her stop suddenly, and hide behind her friend. Doctor looked at her confused, then he looked at Zachary, and frowned at him. "Zachary, do not intimidate the girl." 

"All I did was frown at her laughing at me!" 

"I think it is best that we leave," Amelia smiled as she grabbed Clara's hand, and ran out of the castle then turned to her smiling. "Where do you want to go huh? What do you want to see?" 

"Um... I do not know... You know when uh... You have read a book, and somebody asks you 'what is your favourite book', and you forget every book you have read?" 

"No, I do not," she looked at her confused. "Nobody has asked me that, and I do not read many books." 

"Oh well... I-It is like that... Um..." She stammered as she thought. "Your place?" 

"Sure," the knight smiled as she grabbed the shorter girl's arm and dragged her along to her house, and walked inside. "There is a spare room you can use..." Amelia trailed off as she saw Clara standing outside of the house gripping onto her opposite arm, and looking down. "Everything okay lass?" 

The brunette's head snapped up, "Oh uh... Y-Yeah..." She looked around slightly at the villagers who were muttering to each other about her. "J-Just uh..." 

"Are you going to act like that mystical being and need to be invited in?" Amy smirked as she approached her.  

"What? Were-wolves do not need to be invited in, you are thinking of vampires," she said as she stepped through the threshold of her friend's place.  

"Well seeing as I do not know much, or believe in such things, I assumed that they were the same," the scot shrugged as she stepped inside and closed the door.  

"They are not," Clara looked around. "Where am I not allowed to go?" 

"Go where ever you like," Amelia smiled as she put her arm over the smaller girl's shoulders. "The only rule is, do not wake me up in the middle of the night for no reason." 

"You like your sleep?" 

"Yes, I do. Especially when I have been down the tavern." 

"Tavern?" Clara looked up at the taller girl.  

"You do not know what a tavern is? Even I know there are taverns at King Matthew's village. I assume you have never drunk alcohol before?" 

"Nope, my father told me never to drink, unless you want to bargain with the devil," she looked straight ahead with a sad look.  

"Bargain with the devil? Was he drunk when he – Are you okay?" The knight rushed to Clara's front, and grabbed her shoulders gently when she noticed a tear run down the girl's cheek. "Bad memories?" 

"Oh uh..." The brunette sniffed, "G-Good memories... I-I guess..." She jumped when she felt Amy's thumb wipe a tear from her face, and stared at her.  

"You have not seen your father in a long time, eh?" The scot smiled at her, and Clara shook her head whimpering. "You know what lass?" 

"W-What?" 

"I might change your nickname to pup, seeing as you have a lot of cute puppy characteristics," Amy winked as she stood up straight, and embraced the girl tightly in her arms. Clara froze for a few moments, and then smiled as she snuggled into the taller girl, making a low-pitched moan like a puppy. This made the knight laugh and stroke her hair. "You are like a dog, I hope that does not offend you." 

Clara shook her head, and smiled contently as Amy continued to caress her hair softly, still having one arm wrapped around her back.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked it! 
> 
> -Nate


	6. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara runs off.

The next few days Clara was following Amelia around almost everywhere, and Zachary was fed up of it. Every time they visited him she was right behind her, even when he told her to get out. Amelia would always stand up for her pup. It wasn’t just the injured knight that noticed the girl's actions this time. 

"Clara, I have noticed you're really loyal towards Amelia," the Doctor started. "Is there a reason for that?"  

"I guess I am j-just a loyal person, s-sir," she looked up at him.  

"What have I told you? Do not call me sir, Doctor is just fine." 

"Oh yes... S-Sorry Doctor," Clara looked down slightly.  

He just grinned, "There is no need to be sorry." 

Silence fell as nobody knew what to say, and the Doctor just flipped through pages in his book. The silence was disturbed when Lance knocked on the door, and peered his head through it. "Amelia, his majesty would like to see you." 

"I'll be there now," she smiled as she stood up. "Stay with Doc, pup." But Clara didn't reply, she just stared out into space, which made the knight kneel down in front of her. "Are you okay?" 

"Hmm?" She looked up, "Oh, yeah." 

Amelia kissed her on the forehead before she left to see the king. She passed down a few halls to get to the throne room, most of which were filled with paintings of the royal family and just portraits of the king. However, there was always one that caught her eye, even though she had walked past it countless times, a landscape oil painting of the village from just outside the gates. The scot always thought it was a wonderful masterpiece, the way the sunset was painted over the castle, and the arrays of colour that was mixed within the village. It really captured the beauty of her home, and it made her sad that she was to leave it all behind shortly. On the rest of the way to the throne room she kept her head down, and remembered what life was like in the village when she was a child, so much so that she didn’t realize that she had entered the room. 

"Ah, Amelia," King Lucas smiled. "How is the girl doing?" 

"Clara? She seems to be doing okay. She is still new to this village, and does not know everybody, and she sticks next to me a lot. Um, why did you call me your majesty? She could have told you," as soon as she said that she regretted it, knowing how her pup would react being questioned by the king.  

"Because I want to ask you a question about her," he started.  

"And what may that question be?" As soon as her king asked Amy felt her heart sink and almost choked on her own saliva. She couldn’t even think of a response to such an unexpected query. 

"Do you think she will make a good queen?" 

* * *

Amelia walked into the room where she left the villager, but her pup was nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?" 

"She said she wanted to surprise you, for being such a good friend," Doctor said. "She never said where she was going." 

"What did the king want?" Zachary asked as he sat up on the bed.  

"Her," the red-head merely said as she rushed out the door down to the stables. "Lance?" 

"Ah Amelia, what can I do for you tod-" he got interrupted by her. 

"Have you seen Clara?"  

"She did come by to get a horse. I saddled up Chestnut for her, since she was used to him and seemed scared of the other horses," he answered.  

"Where was she going?" 

"She said something about apples," he said thoughtfully. "What is the matter Amelia?" 

"She just left without telling me, saddle up Cali," she ordered as she paced around in the stables.  

"Here you go," Lance gave the reins to the knight. "Be careful." 

"Will do," she smiled as she hopped on the white horse and rode off to the woods. By the time the knight got to the outskirts of the woods it was midnight, and she just about saw Chestnut if it wasn’t for the distinctive white mark on his left leg. "Chestnut?" There was an audible huff that made her know it was her horse, and as soon as he did she jumped off Cali. "Chestnut, where is Clara?" 

The brown horse tied to a tree by the reins made a high-pitched neigh, and his ears flicked back and forth. Whereas Cali ran off when she heard a rustle in the bushes. Amelia drew her sword out and pointed it in the direction of the bushes, her hands trembling when she heard a soft growl. "W-Who is there!" 

A dark wolf-like figure arose from the bushes, and growled at her. The knight gasped, and stumbled back staring at the huge wolf who did not move an inch. She raised her sword in the air and launched at the wolf. It dodged her attack by jumping over her and landing where she once stood. The size of the beast amazed her so much that the girl lost her footing, and landed in the dirt of where the wolf was previously standing. There she found Clara's signature blue tunic in the bush with a tear in the left shoulder stitch. 

 A lump caught in Amelia's throat as she grabbed the piece of clothing, completely forgetting that there was a beast in front of her, that could kill her any moment. However, the beast just stood there and whined at the knight. That was when she remembered why she was here, why she was in the forest, how she met Clara, and how she didn’t even get to say goodbye. But, the scot also thought about how cute the shorter girls dog mannerisms were, and her eyes. Those beautiful chocolate like eyes.  

"Do you understand me?!" Amelia yelled at the beast, who in return tilted its head to the side. "Do you know me?!" 

The beast laid down on the ground and shuffled over with a whine in response, and that's when it hit Amy. That this beast everyone was hunting down, was her pup, her Clara. Those big brown puppy eyes staring at her.  

"Oh, thank God!" The knight cried as she dropped her sword and hugged the massive wolf, who made a low-pitched moan like Clara did when Amy last hugged her like this. "Thank God, you are okay Clara. My Clara." 

Morning came and Amy awoke on the path alone. She jumped up when she heard a whimper from the bushes behind her. "Clara?" 

The brunette shot her head up from the bush, and blushed when her friend laughed at her. "W-What is so funny?" 

"The way your head just popped up," Amy smiled as she stretched in the sun. "Why are you there?" 

"Oh uh... I-I needed to get my tunic b-back on before you awoke..." 

"Oh," the knight's face blushed a deep shade of red. "Yes, that was wise." 

"Y-Yeah..." Clara walked from the bush towards her friend, and yawned. "Were you warm?" 

"Uh, yeah. Thanks to your fur," she smiled. "So... You are a were-wolf eh." 

The brunette merely nodded, and sat down on the stone. "Y-You are not scared of me... A-Are you?" 

Amelia just smiled and hugged her. "To be honest, yes. At first anyway," she rubbed the smaller girls back for comfort. "Seeing that large animal in the dark, it did frighten me. However, it did not frighten me as much as it did when I thought you were dead. When I finally noticed you were not attacking me, and your dog like characteristics, it clicked. I was so relieved that you had not died, I guess I have not had time to fully process it." A tear fell to the ground. "But to actually answer your question, pup, no, I am not scared of you." 

Clara quickly hugged her and cried into her shoulder, which stunned the knight into hugging her tighter. "T-Thank you..." 

"Hey," she caressed her hair soothingly. "What is the matter?" Amy asked as she pulled back, and placed her hands on the girl's face, wiping away her tears.  

"Y-You did not run away from m-me... I-I guess..." She sniffed.  

Amelia stood up, "Do you want me to run away from you? I will," she smirked. Clara jumped up, and grabbed her arm. "I was only joking pup," the knight laughed, and held onto her. "So, what was the plan?" 

"Plan?" The she-wolf looked up at her confused. 

"Well, you must have thought of some excuse for you to be out here all night." 

"Oh... I was going to get apples, and say that I had fallen asleep under a tree. I-I was going to get apples for you anyway..." She blushed.  

"Let us get apples then," Amy smiled as she walked over to the apple trees. "Do you have the strength to climb again?" 

"Yes," Clara ran up and clung onto a branch just like last time. "Catch me yeah?" 

"Absolutely... Let me just find my sword..." 

"Oh, I stood on it earlier, I put it near Chestnut," the girl grabbed another apple. "How many do we-ah!" 

Clara slipped on a branch and fell out of the tree, only this time Amy caught her. "Be careful lass." 

"Y-Yeah... Thank you," she blushed as she hopped onto the floor. "How many apples do we need?" 

"How many were you thinking?"  

The girl thought about it for a moment, "Um... Well I have managed to get three..." 

Amelia smiled, "Enough climbing for today, we will just get apples from reaching height." 

"Well... Y-You can..." She huffed like a child. "One of the reasons I climb is because I would have to jump to reach them apples." 

The knight just laughed, and patted her head. "Get on Chessy, I will get the other apples." 

"Che- Oh, so you have a nickname for your horse, too?" Clara smirked as she walked over and untied him from the tree.  

"Like the name you gave me, shorter for danger reasons," Amy winked at the girl, and then grabbed a few apples from the tree. "Oh god." 

"What?" The shorter girl asked as she hopped on Chestnut.  

"The Doctor was right... You are a were-wolf... He cannot know that he was right, we will never hear the end of it." 

"Um... C-Can nobody... k-know that I am a-" She got cut off by her friend.  

"Do not worry Clara," Amy smiled as she walked over, and hopped on Chestnut. "I was just making a joke, nobody can know what you are. You would get executed if they did." 

"Y-Yeah..." The brunette sighed. "Oh, what did the king want you for?" 

Amelia jumped slightly, and remembered her interaction with the king and how it hurt her. "Oh, he just wanted my opinion on a few people, and whether they were worthy of being a knight or not." 

"Oh," Clara looked down. "I-I am sorry about that..." 

"Self-defence right? That reminds me she-wolf," the knight started as she lightly kicked Chestnut to make him move forward. "I am going to be asking you questions when we get back." 

The she-wolf nodded as they rode off to the village, and continued to cling onto the knight's torso tightly so that she did not fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I tried to make this quite uh... Emotional? I'm not sure how well it went but yeah.   
> Thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying it so far!  
> -Nate


	7. Questions

Once they got to the scot's house they sat down in the kitchen with cups of water, bread, and the apples they picked. There was an awkward silence between the two as they drank and ate bits of the bread. The only other sound was outside with dogs running around and barking, and the distant laughter from the nearby tavern.  

"So, uh..." Clara grasped onto the cup nervously, "What do you want to know?" 

"Hmm. How did you become a wolf?"  

"A curse," she said bluntly.  

This made Amy almost choke on her water. "W-What? Curse? Why? How?" 

"R-Remember when I mentioned that my father told me never to drink unless I want to bargain with the devil?" The knight nodded. "Well, he did... I guess. That was what he said anyway. This woman set a curse on me when I was younger because he did something to anger her when he was drunk, or something. I never got told what he did, just what was going to happen to me. River, I believe her name was, told me that I was going to be a she-wolf when I was 15, but some effects would still be there when I was younger. Like my puppy characteristics, as you put it, and being able to talk to canines." 

"Whoa wait, you can talk to canines?" Amelia asked in awe as she leaned onto the table more.  

"Yeah, the only good thing to come out of the curse," Clara sighed as she looked down. 

"Hey," the scot leaned over and grabbed her hand. "Do you want to talk about something else?" 

"No, let s carry on," she half smiled. "Any other questions?" 

"Um... Why is your skin so soft?"  

The she-wolf giggled, "It is an odd thing that happens the day after a wolf moon, I am not sure why though. In a way, it is like when I space out on the day of a wolf moon, I guess that is a way of warning me." 

Amelia gently rubbed the other girl's hand, "Why did you not attack me?" 

"Oh..." The brunette looked up, "I did not want to hurt you... O-Or kill you..." 

"So, you have control?" The red-head asked as she sat on the table, and the smaller girl nodded meekly, feeling a bit intimidated by the height difference between the two. "W-Was it self-defence then? Killing the other knights?"  

"Yes, I swear it was," Clara stood up and got closer to her friend. "T-They scared me... And h-hurt me... I really did not mean to kill them... I-I did not mean to kill anyone..." 

Amy hopped off the table and clutched her in her arms when she noticed her pup close to tears. "Oh Clara, it is okay. It was their own fault for attacking you." 

Clara whimpered as she leaned into the knight, who stroked her hair comfortingly and rested her head on the smaller girl. Shortly after they were interrupted by a knock at the door that made them both jump.  

"Amelia? It is Lance, please open the door," he said, and Amy walked over and did so. 

"Yes Lance?" 

"King Lucas has called upon you and Clara," just as he said her name the girl peered her head through the kitchen door.  

"Oh, we will be there in a moment, we just need to put our apples away. Can you take Chestnut to the stables? Oh, has Cali been by? She ran away last night when I found Clara." 

"Cali did come back to the stables, and yes, I will take Chestnut to the stables. Do not keep the king waiting, Amelia," Lance said as he grabbed the horse and walked off.  

As soon as Lance, and anybody else, was out of an ear shot Amy walked up to her pup. "You remember your story yeah?" 

"Yes," she nodded. They smiled at each other and then walked over to the castle.  

"Amelia, Clara. Thank you for coming straight away," Lucas smiled. "Can you girls tell me what you were doing last night?" 

"I-I went to the apple trees to surprise Amy for being a good friend, your majesty," Clara started. "I did not know she was going to go after me, and we fell asleep under a tree." 

"Why is your dress ripped?" 

"I-I fell out of a tree, sir..." She looked down bashfully.  

"Did you know it was a wolf moon last night?" Zachary appeared from the door behind the girls, who jumped at his sudden presence.  

"No," Amy replied. "We did not see the beast last night." That was technically not a lie in her eyes, as she did not think of Clara as a beast, but as her friend who happens to be a she-wolf. 

The knight just frowned as he crossed his arms leaning against the door, showing that he did not believe them. This made Amelia roll her eyes and turn back to the king. "Was that all your majesty?" 

"I am afraid not," he sighed as he got off his throne and walked up to Clara. "As Amelia was not very clear yesterday, Clara, would you like to be queen?" 

The girl's and Zachary's eyes widened at their king's question and nobody knew how to react. Amy stood still and stared at the girl with a worrisome look, knowing that if she said yes it was only a matter of time until she was executed for what she was. Whereas Clara had her mouth slightly open like a goldfish, in shock, trying to speak but no sound came out.  

"Sire, you cannot be serious?" Zachary walked over to them. "This girl has only been here for a few days." 

"She is beautiful though," he smiled down at her. "What do you say?" 

The girl looked over at Amelia, and then turned back sighing. "I-I am sorry, your majesty... But... I cannot be your queen." 

Lucas just frowned, stepped back, and walked back to his throne. "Very well. You are all dismissed." 

Before Clara could stammer another apology, Amy gripped onto her arm and dragged her outside. "I am sorry Clara, I did not know he was going to ask you that. I did not think he would." 

"Y-You knew he wanted me to be his?" 

"I still cannot believe it," Zachary huffed. "Well, I better go back to the Doctor before the king walks out. You girl's better be out of the way when he does."  

He smirked at Clara before retreating to his quarters. "Do not listen to him, he is just trying to scare you," the scot walked dragging her pup with her. "But yeah, we better get home." 

When they did Clara just stood at the door, not moving, even when her friend walked into the kitchen. "D-Did I do something wrong?" 

Amelia stuck her head through the door, "No, you did not. If you had said yes you would have to live with him, and he would find out what you are the next wolf moon. And knowing him he would want to lay with you the first chance he got." 

The she-wolf snapped her head up and blushed. "W-What? W-Would he?" 

The knight walked up to her, and put her hands on each side of the girl's face. "I am afraid so. Which was one of the reasons I did not answer him clearly yesterday, I guessed that you would not want that. I-I am sorry for speaking for you, and not telling you..." 

"No, it is good that you did... I would not want that..." She hugged the taller girl, "T-Thank you Amy." 

Amelia smiled and kissed the girl on the head, "Come on pup, let us eat. Sorry, I do not have any raw meet." She giggled and patted her on the head. 

The brunette giggled, and pulled out of the hug, "Wolf jokes? Really?" 

The red-head nodded and headed to the kitchen, "And much more to come my little pup." 

When she was out of sight Clara grinned, and leaned on the wall hugging herself. All those little nicknames, jokes, and kisses got to her. They all made her face light up gleefully, like all those years hiding in the woods and being with her father never happened. She felt as if, even for one moment, that she was normal. A normal girl in a normal village with a normal life. However, once that feeling had gone, Clara remembered the harsh reality she was living in, and how her thought of a normal life would never happen. 

"Are you coming, or are you just going to stand by the door all day?" Amelia's voice came from the kitchen which made the girl snap out of her day dream, and she peered her head from the door. "Clara? Are you alright?" 

"Oh yeah," the she-wolf jumped off the wall and smiled at her as she walked into the kitchen. "Just daydreaming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, that's what happened! I hope you liked it!
> 
> -Nate


	8. Distaste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is always something to distaste.

The following day Amy awoke to find Clara nuzzled into her half off her bed. She just smirked and pushed her off earning a yelp and whimper from the she-wolf when she hit the ground. "Sorry pup, just thought I would wake you up. You were half off the bed anyway," the knight laughed as she leaned over to look at her.  

Clara sat up and moved her hand in the air a few times as she tried to retaliate but nothing came out, which only made her friend laugh even more. She just pouted, "I-I was going-" 

"You were meant to wake up before me and scurry back downstairs?" The red-head smiled at her and climbed out of bed. "Come on, let us get some breakfast, then I will check up on the horses, and we will walk about the village. Since you have only been to the castle and here since you have been here. I might even introduce you to alcohol." 

"I know what alcohol is Amy," the girl stood up and dusted herself off. "Can I go with you to Chestnut?" 

"No," Amy said as she walked out of the door.  

"Why not?" Clara whined like a child as she chased after her.  

"Well one, you do not like horses, and two, it is too close to the king. I advise you do not see him unless he calls on both of us." 

"Oh... Right," the brunette looked down. The two sat at the table like they usually did with the apples they picked yesterday in the centre, not being eaten. They picked on some stale bread, drank some water, and talked for an hour before Amy got ready to leave.  

"Well I am off, do not leave the house you got that?" The shorter girl nodded. "Seriously, do not leave." 

"I will not," Clara reassured her as she took a sip from her cup. The knight nodded and left her pup to finish her drink. After a while of hearing barking from the dogs outside, and wanting to talk to them, there was a knock on the door that made the girl jump. "Yes?" She asked as she opened the door to see the king standing there.  

"Hello Clara," he smiled. "May I come in?" The she-wolf just wanted to slam the door in his face and hide, but she knew there would be consequences if she did that. Instead, she just stood aside as he walked in and closed the door. "Is Amelia not here?" 

"N-No sir, she went to the stables," she replied. "Did you want to see her?" 

"Actually, I wanted to see you my dear," Lucas turned and walked closer to her. Clara stepped back and squeaked when her back hit a wall. This only made the king chuckle softly, and put his hands to the wall encaging her between him. "You are adorable." 

"Um... s-sir?" The girl recoiled when she smelt the scent of alcohol from his breathe, "A-Are you intoxicated s-sir?" 

"Maybe," he smirked as he edged closer to her, their bodies slightly touching. "You should remove that dress before it gets ripped even more," Lucas felt the teared piece of clothing along with her skin under it. "Do you not think?" 

Clara shuddered at the touch, and shook her head. "I-I will f-fix it l-later s-sir... Please can y-you step b-" she got interrupted by the king kissing her on the lips, and being pressed against the wall.  

"I am sorry," Lucas pulled back. "You are beautiful," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, making her flinch.  

"Sire," Zachary walked through the door. "You are needed at the castle." 

"Ah, okay then. Well Clara, I hope you enjoyed this little visit," the king smiled as he walked out.  

Zachary looked over at the girl, "It would be best, even for your sake, that you tell nobody about that," he walked over. "I cannot believe he likes you, ugh, he will not when I prove that you are the beast. Do you understand?"  

Clara merely nodded, and the knight left straight after grumbling to himself. When she thought nobody else was going to walk through the door, the timid girl slid down the wall, tucked her knees to her chest, and started to cry. The she-wolf knew she would not be able to stay there if her curse was at the risk of getting out, and if the king would keep wanting her to be his queen.  

A few moments later Amelia walked in to find her pup where she left her in the kitchen, with a cup of water firmly in her hands. "Have you moved?" She asked with a little laugh as she sat down in front of her. 

"Yeah, there was someone at the door," the girl clutched tighter onto her cup. "A dog and... I think a woman." 

"You think? Let me guess, you had a conversation with the dog?"  

"No, no, I did not... I wanted to as it kept talking to me.... I got d-distracted by the dog so much that I did not hear what the woman said, but I did not want to seem rude." 

The knight couldn't help but laugh, "Hopefully we will run into her when we go to the market." 

"Market?" Her head shot up, "I have not been to a market since I was younger." 

"Really? Exactly how long were you in the forest for then?" 

"Um... I have lost count of the years..."  

"Well, let us go to the market then," Amy smiled as she stood up, and walked to the door being followed by her pup. "Just stay close to me." 

"Wil do," she hooked her arm with the taller girl's. "This way I will not get lost." 

The knight smiled and held onto her arm, "My little puppy does not want a least then?" 

"Oh, shut up," Clara pushed into her giggling. "Shall we?" 

"We shall," Amelia laughed as she dragged her friend out the door and to the market. Once they were at the market all the brunette wanted to do was run around, and look at all the stalls. There were tables full of different food, jewellery, clothing, and drinks, most of which were accompanied by a person with a dog, and were most of the ones that the she-wolf wanted to visit. The knight laughed at the awe expression on her pup's face at everything, and dragged her to a clothing table with a black Alaunt standing next to the seller, that had caught the brunette's eye. Before Amy could introduce her friend to the seller, she went straight to the dog and stroked him. This made her laugh, and apologise to the seller, who was not bothered by it, and told the girl that his name was Buster. Clara smiled at Buster and fussed him more, talking to him whenever she knew that her friend was distracting the owner. However, she caught the attention of two children, who looked at her weirdly and laughed to themselves. When she noticed them, the shorter girl jumped up and into Amy with a yelp. The scot held onto her, and laughed nervously. "Clara and I should be going now," she said as she pushed her pup along.  

After a few hours of walking around the market, a woman with a sheep waved at Amy to get her attention, and it worked as they approached her. As soon as Clara got close enough to the sheep, it moved away and bleated. This startled all of them, and the knight put her arm around her pup before she spoke, "Hello Helen." 

"Hello Amelia, and..." She looked over at the brunette. "I do not believe we have met," the woman extended her free hand over to her. "Hello there, my name is Helen, the shepherd's wife. Sorry about Basil here, he does not like crowded areas." 

"Hello, I am Clara, Amelia's friend," she smiled as she shook the woman's hand. "Basil? Unusual name for a sheep." 

"You are clearly not from around here then," the elderly woman chuckled. "Amelia, I was hoping I could get some gossip?" 

"Gossip? About what?"  

"Why the king was over yours earlier." 

Clara's eyes widened and Amy felt her tremble. "He was over mine? Clara?" 

"Yes, h-he was," she sighed as she looked down. "I am sorry." 

"Ab-" before the scot could begin to question her, the girl bolted off. "I was not there when he arrived, I am sorry but I have to chase after her before she gets lost." 

"Go ahead, we will talk another time," Helen smiled.  

Amy took off after her pup calling after her. Eventually, they got to her house and Clara bolted through the door without closing it. "Clara! Stop!" The she-wolf suddenly halted in the small hall and whimpered. "Geez, you are fast. What is wrong?" 

"I am s-sorry," she whined. "I... I d-did not want to l-lie... t-to you..." 

"Why did you then?" The knight turned her around, and kneeled down to her height. "What is going on?" 

"I-I cannot say..." The smaller girl pouted, "L-Lets d-do something." 

"Clara, sweetie, please tell me why he was here," Amy asked as she caressed her pup's cheek. 

"I-I... would l-like to try a drink..." She adverted her gaze and walked past her friend to the door. "Tavern?" 

The scot sighed and walked up to her, "Fine, we will have some beer."  

The first thing that the she-wolf noticed when she walked in the tavern was the noise, and then the strong smell of alcohol. Her friend laughed when she noticed her nose scrunch up in disgust, and grabbed her arm to drag her to the nearest table. 

"Amelia!" A drunk guy came up to them swishing his jug about. "How are you? Ooh, who ish thish?" 

"Hello Trey, I am doing fine thanks. This is Clara, her first time in a tavern," she smirked. "Would you get her a drink?" 

Clara looked up at her friend confused, and before she could stop him Trey walked over to the bartender. "Why did you do that?" 

"He will do anything for me when he is drunk," Amy winked. "Also, I doubt you would have wanted to go up there." 

Trey came back with three jugs and placed them on the table as he sat down, "There ya go." 

"Thank you," the knight smiled as she drunk hers. Her and Trey noticed Clara not touching hers, and staring at the table. "Clara?" 

She snapped her head up, "Hmm?" 

"You gonna drink, love?" Trey asked.  

"Oh, y-yeah... Sorry, got lost in my own head," she smiled and grabbed the jug, looking at the liquid cautiously.  

"It is not gonna bite yer love," The drunk laughed.  

"It is her first time trying a beverage like this Trey," Amy explained as she finished hers. "I think you might be making her nervous, can you please leave?" 

"Shure thing," he grinned goofily as he stood up and wobbled over to another table.  

"You okay?" The scot asked, "You spaced out." 

"Uh... I think it is a w-wolf moon..." Clara frowned and sniffed the drink, "what does this taste like?" 

"Just drink some and see," Amelia laughed. "I would recommend not sniffing the drink, us humans do not do that." 

"Oh... Y-Yeah..." She took a sip of it, nodded, and then scrunched up her face and push the jug aside. "Nope... I do not like it." 

"Shame," the red-head smirked and grabbed the drink. "Oh well, looks like it is mine now." 

"Um... I should probably go..." 

"Why?" Amy asked when she finished the drink.  

"Well, it takes about half a day get to the woods. I cannot risk anybody else finding out," Clara whimpered at the thought.  

"Hmm. What about staying with me in the wine cellar?" Clara tilted her head in confusion, which made the knight laugh. "It is at the castle, but we can sneak in. Lance will gladly help." 

"H-How big is it?" 

"Big enough, trust me. We can see if you like wine then," she grinned. 

"Will the king know that a bottle is missing or been opened?" The she-wolf asked. 

"He lets me get them whenever I want, it will be fine. With you... you know... I am not planning on getting drunk." 

"O-Okay," she sighed. "When should we go?" 

"It is starting to get dark," Amy looked out the window. "Now?" 

Clara agreed and they snuck off to the castle. They had to stop off at the Doctors first so that the pup could hide from the king whilst the knight went off to find Lance. When she did she made up a story about wanting to take her friend there for the night to see if she liked wine or not, and for some peace and quiet. Lance was happy to help out, and looked around before giving her a key to the cellar. Amy then went back to the Doctor and asked him if they could borrow a book.  

"Of course, you can," he smiled as he went to his abundance of books on his desk and picked one out. "Will this mystical one do?"  

"Yes, thank you Doctor," the taller girl smiled as she grabbed it, and then grabbed her pup. "We shall be off then. Bye!" 

Clara stumbled, and almost fell a few times down the stairs towards the cellar. Eventually, they got down there and her friend unlocked the door, and pushed her inside. "Ouch!" 

"What happened?" Amy closed the door and looked at the smaller girl, who was standing in front of a rack of wine bottles.  

"I-I stumbled into the wood..." She said as she rubbed her nose.  

"Aw, I must have pushed you too hard," the knight walked up to her. "Come on, there is a nice sitting spot around here." 

They sat down in front of a barrel, and Amy opened the book. "What is the first chapter?" Clara asked as she curled up against the taller girl. When she noticed the smirk on her face she sighed, "were-wolves right?" 

"Yes," She giggled. "I think we are going to need some wine." 

"Uh... Y-You maybe..." The she-wolf was suddenly apprehensive, and sat up when her friend walked over to one of the racks.  

"You have to try it pup," the scot groaned and turned around. "What is wrong?" 

"Um... C-Can you l-look away?" She asked with a pleading look as she stood up, and tugged on her dress. 

"Oh... Yeah," Amy turned around with a blush. "Turn back when I hear a growl or something yeah? Clara?" There was no response, just silence. The knight's breathing increased as she remembered what her pup was like in wolf form, and the fear of not knowing if she was going to bolt or not got to Amy. Suddenly, there was pressure applied in between her shoulder blades, causing her to gasp in shock and jump. She finally turned around to be eye level with a large brown wolf, still with chocolate brown eyes. "Geez, you scared me," she laughed as she fussed the canine's head, earning a whimper from her, but Amy could see a tail wagging slightly at her touch. Which made her laugh even more before she sat back down.  

Clara lied down next to her, and put her head on her friend's lap like a dog would, eagerly wanting to feel her hands run through her fur. When the human did stroke the wolf, she moved her head towards her skin, and sighed with her eyes half closed. A few hours after, having read the majority of the book, Amelia was starting to fall asleep as well as Clara. However, their almost slumber was interrupted with the king bursting through the door, and seeing them. 

"Amelia!" He shouted, and then saw the giant wolf. "So, it is true then, she is a beast." 

"Sire, h-how did you know t-to come down here?" Amelia asked as she stood up.  

"That would be me," Zachary emerged from behind a crater. "I even doused myself in wine so that mutt would not smell me. I must have done a good job too. You see your majesty, that so called beautiful girl is nothing but a monster, I still cannot believe you kissed her." 

"He what?!" The scot looked down at Clara, who whimpered under her gaze.  

"Oh, I thought she would have told you," the drenched knight said. "Anyway, sire, what should we do with the beast?" 

"She is not a beast!" Amy shouted. "As you can see, she has not hurt me, or any of you for that matter!" 

"Enough Amelia," King Lucas ordered. "We do not want to panic or wake up the village this early in the morning. We will lock her up until the next wolf-moon, and have everybody decide her fate. Zachary, get her to the dungeons." 

"With pleasure," he smirked as he drew his sword out.  

"Wait, your majesty please," the red-head pleaded, but it was no use as he walked away. "Clara, do something!" 

"T-They want me to react... T-To attack," she whimpered as she backed away from Zachary. "To prove that I am a dangerous m-monster." 

The female knight's eyed widened, "W-What was that? Did you just speak in my head? Zachary, please tell me you heard that!" 

Both Zachary and the wolf looked up at her, "What are you talking about Amelia?" 

"I-I have tried that with everyone... O-Only you have seemed to heard me..." Clara whined as she stepped over and nuzzled her head against Amy, forgetting the danger she was in because she was happy that she finally reached someone. That happiness did not last as Zachary struck her leg with the sword, making the wolf yelp out in pain.  

"Zachary!" Amelia cried as she went to attack her brother, but got grabbed by the king. "Lucas! Let go of me!" 

"You are lucky that I am not having you thrown in jail," he said as he dragged her out of the cellar. "Please calm down as we take care of the monster." 

Amy saw two other people run past her into the cellar, one with a whip, and the other with rope. She heard yelps and stumbling as she tried to struggle out of the king's grasp. "Your majesty, you have to stop them!" 

"They are here on my orders," He bluntly said. "I think it is time you went to sleep, Amelia." 

"How can I- Hmph!" Before she could finish the sentence, a rag was brought to her mouth and nose, making her cries muffled. Seconds later, the scot heard a pained howl coming from Clara, as she fell asleep in the king's arms with tears still running down her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know that Clara is way too OOC here, and I feel bad for her... Oh well...  
> Thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying it!  
> -Nate


	9. Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All magic comes at a price.

When Clara awoke on the floor of her cell she looked around hazily, and quickly backed away to a wall with her knees to her chest. The cold, and the fear of being locked up, suddenly hit her, making the young girl shiver. It was at that moment she realised she was not wearing her dress, and her head shot up to see if it was on the floor anywhere.  

"Looking for something?" Lucas walked up to the bars with her dress in his hand. "Why are you so attached to this? You could have had any of Amelia's clothes whilst here, but you have stayed in this." The brunette shuffled awkwardly, and buried her head into her knees with a dog-like whine. "I have to say I am disappointed, the only good-looking girl in this place turns out to be a monster." 

Clara felt a mix of nerves and anger at that remark, as she thought Amy was beautiful, but was scared of her predicament.  She darted her eyes around the cell, and tried to look for an escape route without fail. However, the young girl knew that any attempt to escape was futile, and if caught could lead to a world of pain. 

"I knew it was too good to be true. Tell me beast, how many people have you killed?" 

The small girl got upset at his question, and went to stammer out an answer, but no sound came out. She just whimpered and dug her nails into her legs.  

"I'm going to open the cell, and you cannot escape. Or Zachary will kill you," the king said as he jingled the keys in front of him. 

"And like it," Zachary interjected as he came out of the darkness with a smirk. The she-wolf merely nodded, and gulped in response. 

 Lucas opened the door and walked in before closing it, "Stand in the presence of your king." 

"At least get her some clothes before she has to stand!" Amy rushed in, and grabbed the bars. 

Clara quickly looked up at her friend, relieved that she was not hurt for knowing her secret. However, the girl felt uneasy and embarrassed at her friend seeing her like that. 

"Amelia, you should not be here," Zachary said as he walked to her. "And a beast does not need clothes, it has fur." 

"She obviously does not!" 

"Do not humanise the enemy Amelia," Zachary snarled.  

"Amelia, please calm down. Clara, stand." King Lucas frowned as he stared down at her. When she did not comply, he grabbed her forearm firmly, and dragged her to stand. "Zachary, get Amelia out of here." 

"Of course, sire," his knight nodded as he grabbed her by the torso, and hauled her upstairs with her kicking about. "Doctor? What are you doing here?" 

"Oh, well I was just going to get Amelia back," he started. "I assumed she was down here." 

Zachary set her down and stood in the way of the stairs so nobody could go down. "It seems that I was right with her being the beast," he smirked.  

At that moment, all of them heard a child-like yelp coming from the cells, and turned their head towards the sounds. Amy tried to get to the cell, but was stopped by her childhood friend. "Zachary! Do you not get that she is just a girl!" 

"Just a girl? Ha! It is nothing but a vicious man-eating beast!" 

" _She_ has never eaten anyone!" The red-head cried as she still tried to get past him. 

"Is that what she said? You believe the beast before your own brother?" He frowned. 

"You are not my brother!" She yelled as she stopped to catch her breathe. "After all, I am leaving soon." 

"Ah yes, your little pet should be dead before then," Zachary smirked. 

"You son of a-" Amy snarled. 

"Amelia, please do not result to that," the Doctor said as he got in between the two before there was any more injury. "As for Clara being this beast, how did you all find out?" 

"I knew straight away, but it had dawned on everyone last night when we found her in the wine cellar with Amelia. Cornering her-" Zachary lied as he stood up straight, and smirked when he heard another yelp from behind him. 

"Liar, she would not hurt me. I found out when she fled to the woods, even when I raised my sword up at her she did not attack," Amy spat. 

"I see. Do you know how she became this beast?" The man in the bowtie asked as he looked from one to another. 

"A curse," the taller girl bluntly stated. She then went on to explain how her pup had gotten the curse, and that all the deaths caused by her were accidental. There was another yelp, "let me back in Zachary!" 

"If you disobey the king you will be exiled, do you want that?" He asked as he grabbed her. 

"I do not give a damn!"  

"I do! You have to stay here for as long as you can," the knight tightened his grip on his friend. 

"Why?!" Amy snapped. 

"Because I love you!" 

Everybody stood still in stunned silence, and the Doctor and Amelia stared at Zachary. A loud slap was heard from behind him, and light pit pat noises. Clara emerged from the darkness and hugged Amy, almost knocking her over at the force of it. The Doctor blushed and quickly looked away from her, whereas Amelia hugged her tightly. 

"Beast, get away fro-" Zachary started as he raised his sword. 

"Zachary! Do you not see what I see?" The taller knight realised her pup was trembling, and rubbed her back gently. 

"And what do you see in this beast?" He frowned. 

"A girl! A frightened girl in foreign land, being tormented because of a curse that was not her fault," she snapped. 

Once again there was silence between the three as nobody knew what to say. That silence did not last very long as the king ran up the stairs with a red mark on his cheek, "Seize her! She slapped me for no reason!" 

The Doctor looked over Clara, and scoffed, "Well, I do not know sire, you have seemed to have left a mark on her backside." 

"She disobeyed me." 

"That does not give you the righ-" he started, but got interrupted by the king. 

"I am the king, I can do whatever I want," Lucas frowned as he crossed his arms. 

"You cannot touch her without consent, any part of her," Amy frowned, and then kissed Clara on the head.  

"Amelia, that is a wild accusation against the king, with no proof-" Zachary got cut off by her. 

"Clara told me," she narrowed her eyes at him. 

"We did not hear her talk," he scowled. 

"Telepathy, I assume," Doctor chimed in. Amy nodded, and the shorter girl looked at him slightly, still clung onto the knight. 

"How on earth do you know that?" Lucas asked. 

"I have researched curses in my spare time. One for a werewolf is telepathy to all humans, but only to the ones that are willing to hear. It seemed it has worked with Amelia. Clara, may I try?" 

"Really Doctor, now? Out of all times?" 

"Ah, well Clara seems to have no trouble with the timing," he smiled down at her. "Thank you." 

"Look at you all, talking to it like it is just a girl with mental power, which in my op-" Zachary growled when he got interrupted again. 

"Shut up Zachary," Amelia scowled, and caressed the she-wolf's hair. 

"I am sorry Amelia, Doctor, but she is going to be under trial for the murder of our livestock, a villager, and our men," the king said. 

"She did not kill any- well she killed one sheep, but no other than that. The villager ran into his own pitch fork, and the knights were self-defence!" The scot argued. 

Before the king could retaliate a blood-curdling scream was heard that made everybody jump. It wasn't until Amy felt the arms wrapped around her slide down to the ground, that she realised the scream came from Clara. When she looked down she saw a large bloody cut across her upper back, and Zachary's bloodstained sword pointed at her.  

"Zachary!" Amelia shouted as she quickly knelt down to her pup, and held onto her arms.  

"Your majesty," the Doctor started. "Please let me tend to her, I will have her back in the cell once she has recovered." 

"She heals," he merely said as he eyed her trembling body. 

"It would be a shame if she died of an infection before the next wolf moon," he crossed his arms. "Everyone would think the king killed an innocent girl." 

"Fine," Lucas groaned. His agreement led to an argument between him and Zachary, who was silenced when the king threatened his life.  

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Amelia were carefully carrying Clara to his medical room. They placed the sobbing girl on the bed, and they grabbed water and a piece of cloth to wash the wound. Amy sat down on the floor right next to the girl, and gently stroked her head as she continuously apologised, and reassured her that she was going to be okay. The Doctor simultaneously dabbed her cut with the damp cloth, and jumped away whenever she flinched.  

"I am sorry Clara, but I have to clean it," he sighed and carried on. After a few minutes of washing the wound he noticed the blood had dried, and inside it was already being covered by skin. "You are healing pretty fast, how long does it usually take?" 

"Doctor please, she cannot tal- Ugh, you are hoping she does that telepathy thing?" Amy groaned as she rolled her eyes, still trying to comfort the injured girl. 

"Yes, and she did. For a cut like this it will take a few hours, it is really deep after all," he smiled. "Let's try to keep her here for as long as we can."  

Amy nodded determinedly as she grabbed Clara's hand, and gently rubbed it with her thumb to try to give her pup any sort of comfort. "I will get you out of this, I swear." 

"Can you get her to sit up? I need to put the bandages over her," Doctor said as he grabbed them from a drawer. "At least she will be covered slightly." 

The scot nodded, and gently grabbed Clara to sit her up on the bed. The moment she was sitting up the girl wrapped her arms around her friend's neck, and silently cried into her shoulder. Seeing her like this hurt Amy, and she had to hold back her own tears as she caressed the brunette's hair, and carefully placed her other arm on her lower back.  

The Doctor placed a piece of the material to her cut, which made Clara jump and hiss at the sudden contact. He sighed and carefully wrapped the bandage around her chest making her yelp any time another layer was applied. A few hours after Amy and the Doctor talking, and Clara curled into her like a child, Zachary walked through the door. 

"I have been ordered to apologise, and to bring her back to the cell," he sighed as he approached her. "I am sorry that I injured you for no apparent reason." 

"Can I take her back?" Amelia asked as she tightened her grip on Clara. 

"Hmm. To the top of the stairs, and no further." 

They all walked down and Zachary forcefully dragged the brunette down to the cell. King Lucas approached them.  

"I understand this must be hard for you Amelia," he started. "But she is responsible for the death of your brothers, and a villager." 

"She..." The knight trailed off and sighed, "what is going to happen to her?" 

"Right now? She is going to be whipped." 

"She what?" Amy suddenly sprung to the stairs, but Lucas and the Doctor stopped her. "You cannot! Clara!"  

"I will take her back," Doctor said as he grabbed her by her torso. "Amelia, stop struggling!" 

"She... They cannot!" She kicked around. Once they got to the room she went to the door but he locked it and threw her to the bed. "Doctor! Let me out!" She cried. "T-They..." 

He knelt down in front of her as she sat up, and put his hands to her face. "Listen Amelia, we cannot do anything to help her now. But we will, I promise you that. We will try our best to get her free." 

After a while of crying and comforting, Amy calmed down and thought for a few minutes. "What do we do?" 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this took way too long to write. 
> 
> Hope you all noticed the little TLK reference in there, and that when the Doctor dragged Amy back it was meant to be like in Cold Blood. I'm not that good at writing, so you probably did not get that. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for watching!  
> -Nate


	10. Knight In Shining Armour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escape plans are in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Oh boy, this chapter took forever to write! But I hope it's worth the wait!  
> Please look out for references because I am pretty sure I've done quite a few in this chapter - lost count - especially at the end. 
> 
> WARNING: #ReferencedSuicidalThoughts + #Depression are in this chapter. 
> 
> Now, let's get on with the it!

After a week of hourly whippings, abuse, and not seeing Amy, Clara began to give up on fighting back, and let them drag her around. She knew she would be executed the next wolf moon, but she didn’t care. At this point all the she-wolf wanted was death, an easy way out to escape the suffering that had been set upon her. Every day she hoped there would be signs of a wolf moon, but none came. Her emotions were getting so bad that she wanted a way to end her life before they took it, but there was nothing around to do that. Clara even gave up on eating for the past two days, hoping that she would die of hunger. 

Whistling disturbed her from her thoughts as well as jingling of multiple keys, and she realised that it must have been time for one of her daily punishments. 

"Okay beast, I am..." The man trailed off when he saw Clara sitting against the wall. "What the fuck? You are a girl! A Witch?" It was obvious that he was new, and was not told of her. He walked up to the cell and went to unlock the door, but stopped. "Come over here girl." 

Clara cautiously crawled over to the bars, and sat on her knees like she was told to. The man sighed and sat down beside her on the other side of the cell, and placed the whip aside. "What are you in for then?" 

"Um..." She murmured and shuffled awkwardly. "I-I a-am... a-a... w-wolf... S-Sir" 

"Wolf? As in were-wolf?" He asked in disbelief. "Hmm, I guess that would explain the 'beast' part. Oh, you do not have to call me sir, it is too... Hmm, it makes me feel old. Just call me Jake. What is your name?" 

She was stunned by his calm demeanour, and that he was not just whipping her and then leaving without a second thought. "C-Clara..." 

"Ah, that is a nice name," Jake smiled. "Well, I am meant to be whipping you... Let us talk for a bit instead. How did you become this were-wolf Clara?" 

"A c-curse..." She looked down at the whip, and shakily breathed out at the thought of taking it and using it against him to escape. However, the brunette knew she would not succeed in escaping, and it would end up in more pain. "I-I am n-not like that," she muttered to herself. 

"What was that?" The human asked. "Not like what?" 

Clara jumped and looked up at the man, "Uh... N-Nothing..." 

"Hmm. Well, why are y-" Jake got cut off by the King walking down the stairs to her cell with a hooded figure behind him. "Ah, your majesty." 

"Why are you not whipping her like I ordered you to?" He asked clearly furious about it, and he looked down at Clara, who quickly looked down and shuffled away from the bars. 

"I wanted to know why she was locked up, your majesty," the man stood up and noticed the shadow-like figure behind his king. "Who is that?" 

"None of your concern," Lucas groaned. "I guess it is a good thing you are not doing as you were commanded, we need to talk to her. Pass me the key and go back to your wife." 

"Yes, your majesty," Jake did so with a bow, and he smiled at the person dressed all in black as he walked past them.  

"Are you sure you do not want to be Queen, Clara?" The King asked as he approached the bars looking down at her, clearly trying to intimidate her into submission as she has always refused when he was polite. The she-wolf merely shook her head, and stuck to her method of not looking at him so she would not give in to his pleading looks like he pulled the last few times. He just sighed, and opened the cell. "Very well. Fonn here, would like to talk to you privately. If you hurt her in any form, you will be severely punished, so much so you will wish for death. Is that understood?" 

The prisoner nodded, even though she was already at that point in her seemingly short-spanned life. She heard the hooded figure, Fonn, walk in and giggle. "Lucas please, do not scare the poor girl." And with that the King closed the door, and walked upstairs to his throne room. Clara could have sworn she had heard that voice before, but she could not place it. Her thoughts raced through her mind recalling every person she had met, still trying to find the owner of the voice, but her efforts were pointless. She was certain that she had heard the woman's voice before, but could not remember the name at all, which only added to her confusion. Whilst trying to remember the girl began to get frustrated, which was evident on her features and made the woman laugh, bringing the she-wolf back to reality. "Clara, please look up, I am sure I can make you remember me." 

Clara did as she was told, and looked up at the woman with a confused look. The woman lifted her hood up to reveal herself to the girl, and smirked. As soon as the brunette saw her blue eyes and curly light brown hair, she gasped and scurried backwards hitting her back on the wall with a yelp.  

"R-Ri-River..." Clara just about stammered out as her breathing increased. 

"Hello sweetie," River smiled. "Do not fret my dear, I am not here to harm you," she walked over and kneeled down to her height. "How did you get caught?" 

The young girl gulped, and clutched onto her legs in response. Once River knew she was not going to get anything from the girl, she sighed and got up, stepping away from her. She raised her hand to her eye level and a slightly ripped blue dress appeared in her hand. "Your mother gave you this, did she not?" Clara's eyes widened as she stared at the dress. "Yes, I know everything about you, Clara Oswald. Even everything about your father, and how he has been since you left. He has surprisingly been okay, and he has even taken a liking to another woman. Have you taken a liking to anyone?" 

It took a while for Clara to respond, "Y-Yes..." She admitted with a sigh.  

"Stand for me," the witch ordered. The she-wolf slowly stood up trembling, and put her weight on the wall so that she would not fall. "I hate that he has left you nude, for everyone to see, it disgusts me. Put on the dress." 

The girl caught the piece of clothing that was thrown to her, and clutched it. She went to put it on but stopped, and looked back at River. "W-Wha-" 

River smiled, and raised her hands in the air in mock surrender. "There is no catch, my dear. Just put it on." 

Clara did so and smiled slightly at the comfort of wearing her clothes again, "T-Thank you..." 

"There seems to be a tear in it," the witch frowned and walked closer to the brunette, who stepped back hitting the wall. "I am merely going to fix it Clara, like I said before; I am not going to harm you. In fact, I am here to help you a little. You always were the one curse that I regretted making, it is a shame that your father could not keep his word." 

River slowly traced her finger along the tear and an orange glow appeared, sealing up the clothing without any evidence of it being split. Clara noticed the glow and whimpered, but saw that her dress was repaired, and looked at the taller woman confused. "W-What was t-that?" 

She smirked, and stepped away from the girl. "It is easier to say repair magic since I doubt you would understand the word 'regeneration'. I can only imagine you have not had any... Oh how to word this... physical comfort? Is that how you would say it? Anyway, hug me." 

Clara was stunned at the sudden command, and tilted her head like a confused puppy, this just made the woman laugh. "W-Why?" 

"Does there have to be a reason?" River lifted her arms up inviting the she-wolf to a hug. "Come on, sweetie." 

The prisoner slowly staggered over to the witch, and stumbled into her, clutching her cloak with a small whine. Whereas the taller woman chuckled, and wrapped her arms around her for support. The hug felt really awkward because Clara was tense and not hugging back, but River did not object to the stiffness of the girl, or the lack of interaction. When the shorter girl felt a hand stroke her back she shuddered, earning a sigh from the woman.  

"I am not going to hurt you Clara," she reassured. "I am afraid I cannot take the curse away from you, otherwise I would have done it when you were young. The next wolf moon is in four days, in case you wanted to know. Search for an escape route maybe? But there is something I really need to know that I cannot wrap my head around, even though I know you are kind." 

"W-What is it?" Clara asked as she started to feel more comfortable with the gentle human contact, unlike the hair tugs, and rough grasps on her arms that she has received the past week. She smiled slightly enjoying the comfort, and shakily stretched her arms out to wrap around her creator's torso.  

"Why did you not fight against being caught? You were in wolf form, and could have easily killed that Zachary person, but you did not. Why?" 

"Um... I... I did n-not... w-want to h-hurt a-anyone..." 

River smiled at the girl, remembering how kind she was when she was younger, and how that hadn't changed. "Is there a chance that it was to do with that female knight?" 

The she-wolf tensed up again against the witch, and froze at her comment. "Uh... N-No... W-Why w-would i-it b-b-be..." She stammered out. 

"It seems you have taken a liking to her. I have been watching over you Clara, do not think I do not know a fondness grin when I see one. You are smitten." 

The brunette pulled back and looked up at River with red cheeks, "I-I am not." 

"It is okay Clara, I have known since I first met you that you are... Into the ladies, as it were," River smiled. "Do you not remember our conversation when you were young?" 

"N-No." 

The witch smirked, cleared her throat, and tried to mimic a little girls voice as best as she could. She threw her hands in the air, and clasped them together, "Oh boy, I do like Jasmine, she is so pretty. I could play with her all day, but daddy tells me I should not like her. It is not fair Mrs. Song, she is super pretty." 

Clara blushed, and shied away from the woman. "I...I-I f-forgot about Jasmine..."  

"It was so cute," River laughed. "Maybe you can be like that with Miss. Pond?" 

"W-What? N-No... S-She d-does n-not... I-I... She..." The timid girl stammered out as she tried to form a sentence.  

"Well, here is your chance. I believe it is called a favour?"  

Clara looked up at the witch in confusion at her remark, and froze when she heard a familiar voice. "But we- What the hell? Wher... Clara?!" Before she could explain the small girl was quickly embraced into a tight hug by the knight. "I am so glad to see you! B-But... How am I here?" 

"That would be me," River smiled.  

"And you are?" Amy looked over her, and pulled away from the hug.  

"I am River Song, but Lucas knows me as Fonn, so do not use my actual name in front of him." 

"Wait, River? As in the one who set the curse on you?" The red-head looked down at Clara, who nodded sheepishly.  

"Also known as her creator," the witch interjected. "And I thought I would do both of you a favour, and bring you down here, as Lucas forbid you to see her." 

"H-He did?" Clara asked as she looked up at Amy.  

"What? You thought I abandoned you? No way!" The taller girl hugged her tightly. "I would never do that." 

Clara hugged back, and gripped Amelia's hair weakly as she cried softly on her. The knight blinked away tears as she caressed her pup's hair gently, and rested her head on her shoulder. 

"I guess that is a shock, as her father abandoned... Rather, kicked her out when she was 15 because he claimed he could not handle the full were-wolf thing. Poor girl had to live in the woods for years. Now, let us get right to the point and tell her your feelings for her, Clara," River sighed. 

"Feelings?"  

Everybody turned to see Zachary on the other side of the bars, a whip in his hand, and a set of keys in the other. "Zachary? Ugh, for one of her hourly whippings I assume." The witch rolled her eyes and groaned.  

"What feelings?" The knight unlocked the cell and walked in, locking it behind him. "Do you have feelings for Amelia mutt?" 

"Wait, wait, wait, hourly? I thought they were daily? Not that that is any better but... Ugh, Zachary fuck off!" Amelia snarled. 

"What have you done to her you mongrel," Zachary pinned Clara to the wall, and held her up by her dress. "What spell have you cast on her!" 

River laughed, "Oh please, I am the sorcerer here, not her."  

"What the fuck are you on about Fonn? The King would not allow a witch by his side." 

"Zachary get away from her!" The scot yelled as she grabbed his arm, and tried to drag him away.  

The witch signalled for Amy to step back, and dragged Zachary away from Clara. "I will prove I am a witch, and the puppy is not." 

"Puppy? She is nothing but monster," the male knight snarled.  

"We will see about that Zachary," River smirked and waved her hand towards the smaller girl. Everyone looked at Clara, who was confused and looked at her creator with her head tilted again.  

"What is-" Amy started but paused when her pup clutched her chest, and fell to her knees. "What are you doing to her?!" 

"Checking whether or not she is a beast."  

Clara started to hyperventilate as an orange glow surrounded her, blinding the watchers momentarily. The glow steadily got brighter, and the human silhouette figure slowly transformed into a large creature. Once it had faded everybody saw a large wolf stood weakly in place of where the prisoner once kneeled. The wolf whimpered as she saw Zachary grip onto the whip and backed away to the wall, sliding down it. 

"See? A puppy," River smirked. "And do not worry about your mother's dress, it will still be intact because I forced you to turn." 

Amelia rushed over and hugged her pup on the scruff of her neck, and leaned on her like she would if she was a giant teddy bear. Clara put her head on her lap, her tail curled against her feet, and snuggled into her friend.  

After a while of the two girls – or rather one girl and a giant canine – snuggling, River decided to turn the wolf back to her human form. Once she did Zachary sighed, and gripped onto his whip. "She is going to have to remove her dress for me to whip her." 

Everybody looked at him, and the witch groaned as she walked over to Zachary. "After all that you still believe she is a beast?" He merely nodded with a stern facial expression. "Then I think you should sleep this off." 

Before anyone could question her, the woman placed a finger on the male knight's forehead, and he fell to the ground unconscious. "What did you do?" Amelia asked as she stood up, and walked to River. 

"I simply put him to sleep, he will forget the events that have just transpired here," she shrugged and turned to the girls. "How old are you two?" 

"I'm 21," the scot replied. "Why?" 

"Clara?" 

"24..." 

Amy whipped her head to her pup, who looked up at her with a shocked, yet slightly confused expression. "How are you older than me?"  

"How are you younger than me?" Clara asked at the same exact time as her friend, which caused silence in the cell for a few moments, before laughter filled the air. However, that laughter was cut short when the prisoner started coughing hoarsely.  

"I hate to cut this short, but Lucas is coming back... I will have to teleport you and your friend out of here before he catches you."  

Amy nodded towards River, and kissed her pup on the cheek before she left. Once she had Clara heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, and she edged closer to the corner of the cell worried at what the king will say about her being clothed.  

"Fonn, I am sorry to interrupt your conversation... or lack of... To ask it-Clara a question," Lucas said as he walked to the cell and opened the door. "Why is she wearing that dress?" 

"I brought it down when I saw it in your room," the woman smiled. "You know I hate seeing nude people, and she looked freezing." 

"Ugh, fine. Clara, could you please stand up," he asked. River gently helped the young girl up, and lead her to the King. "Please, be my Queen Clara. All of your suffering will end, and you will not be executed. Please. Or I will be forced to do something quite crude." 

Clara found herself nodding, and uttered a weak 'yes' to his request, which stunned everyone in sight, even herself. The pup looked at the floor confused at her sudden agreement, even though she had no intention of accepting his offer, no matter how dire the consequences. And then it hit her; River. She noticed that her creator had a hand firmly placed on her shoulder whilst a faint orange glow surrounded it.  

"That is great news Clara," Lucas grinned triumphantly. "Ah, your name just rolls off the tongue... Fonn, let's celebrate in my chamber with wine. Lots of it." 

"Yes Lucas, but first let me discuss the duties of a Queen to our dear Clara, before she is introduced to anyone else." River smiled and looked over at her creation, who decided to continue to stare at her feet.  

"Fare enough, I shall meet you two up there. No running away now," and with that King Lucas walked back to his chamber. 

Once he was out of an ear shot Clara turned to the witch, and shoved her hand off her. "W-What did you d-do? I did n-not w-want to b-be w-with h-him... W-What if he w-wants t-to... L-Lay with me... I-I cannot f-fight h-him... Oh god... Oh m-my god...N-No... W-Why d-did you d-do that?! I h-had no intention of b-being his Q-Queen..." 

River gently held onto Clara as she stumbled backwards and breathed heavily. "Shhh Shh... It is going to be okay Clara. I will make sure he does not do anything to you without your permission. If you had declined he would have forcefully laid with you, and that I cannot have. At least now you can see Amelia freely, you will not get hurt or degraded every hour, and you can work on your escape." 

A wolf-like growl was heard and the she-wolf suddenly got enough strength to pull back from her creator and raise her voice ever so slightly. "W-What d-did you do?!" 

"I merely controlled your speech, that is all." 

Clara pouted and folded her arms across her chest like a child as she looked down at her feet. "D-Do not d-do that... I-It is con-confusing..." 

"Aw, enough pouting," River giggled as she wrapped her arm over the young girl's shoulder. "Let's get you upstairs." 

After Clara was carefully lead to the King's chamber by River, he ordered her to leave the room. "There is a King-sized bed, fit for a King and Queen," he smiled as he gestured to the large bed. The new Queen giggled slightly as this. "What is so funny?" 

"Oh uh..." She jumped up and recoiled under his gaze. "N-Nothing s-sir..." 

"You are not going to get hurt Clara, please say whatever you want," he cautiously walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "What was so funny?" 

"I um... J-Just found the K-King-sized bed t-thing... A-Amusing..." She admitted. 

Lucas smiled, "Good, I was hoping it would be funny." 

"Um... M-May I-I see A-Amy-lia...?" 

"You do not have to ask my dear," the King kissed her on the cheek. "Just make sure I know where you are going, then you can go." 

"Um.. O-Okay... T-Thanks..." Clara muttered as she kissed him on the cheek, and headed towards the door, but froze when Zachary walked in.  

"Sire the-" He paused when he saw the former prisoner standing in front of him like a deer caught in headlights. "Why is it here?" 

"That is no way to talk to your future Queen Zachary," the King frowned. "However, your timing is impeccable. Please take Clara to Amelia." 

"Yes sire," Zachary frowned as he walked out and waited for the girl to follow, which she did rather cautiously. "You finally gave in huh?" Clara merely nodded and avoided eye contact. "I thought you would rather die before agreeing to be Queen." 

"S-So did I-I..." Clara sighed as she looked at her feet.  

"I have to admit, I will miss not being able to beat you every hour," Zachary smirked, and then laughed when he heard her whine like a dog involuntarily, and put his hand to her back. "I will not, trust me. However, I might hurt you when you are in wolf form, or get Amelia too, if I get them drunk enough that is. Anyway, here's the Doctor's place. Wait, let me reveal you." 

With that he opened the door slightly as he slid his body through it. "Zachary? What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked when he noticed him.  

"It seems I have picked up a stray, and I need Amelia to see it," he smirked. 

"Stray? As in dog?" Amy asked as she approached him. "You brought a stray dog in the castle? Why would you do such an idiotic thing like that?" 

Zachary just smirked, "Well, technically you brought her to the castle first." The scot gave him a confused look, and then the penny dropped. When it did the male knight opened the door fully to reveal her pup.  

"C-Clara?!" Amelia rushed up and hugged her before anybody could protest. "Why... How are you here?" 

"She agreed to be Queen," Zachary answered as he walked out. "I shall be off now." 

The tall girl pulled back from her pup abruptly, "Y-You what!?" 

"I... I-I..." Tears formed in her eyes and she leaned into her friend's chest as she sobbed. "R-River... S-She m-made m-me..." 

"Now now, all I did was control your voice so that you would be safe," River interjected as she walked in. "I am sorry to interrupt, but I thought we could discuss escape plans? I was thinking fire." 

"I am sorry, but you are?" Doctor asked as he approached them. She explained who she was to him without a second thought. "Right... And why do you want Clara to escape so much?" 

"I feel bad for her you fool," she rolled her eyes.  

"Escape plan..." Amy muttered. "Fire?" 

"Torches," the witch smirked. 

"You would burn the place down," the Doctor pointed out. 

"I think I have an idea," the knight said before the woman could retaliate to her friend's remark as she held onto Clara with one arm wrapped around her, and looked down. "Can you carry me in wolf form?"

* * *

The last few days were rather uneventful. King Lucas let Clara see Amy whenever it would please her, and made sure she ate and drank more than she was in the cell. Zachary was still annoyed at the fact he would eventually have to take orders from her without questioning it. Although, it did please him that anything he said on the subject of torture made her tremble, and he would always do so when they were alone together, however brief that was.  

Clara started to space out on the day of the wolf moon, which did not help when they were revising the escape plan. "Clara? Clara?"  

The she-wolf looked up at her friend in a daze, "Huh?" 

"You spaced out again," she huffed. "I know it is a wolf moon, but is there any chance you could concentrate?" 

"Oh um... Y-Yeah... Uh... W-What were you s-saying?" She asked childishly.  

Amy sighed, and smirked as she ruffled her pup's hair, who closed her eyes and smiled fondly as she lifted her head up to keep the soft contact. "It is a good thing you are cute, pup." 

The Doctor laughed, "I have to say that little interaction there was adorable." 

The two girls looked over at him and blushed, but the scot just carried on with discussing her plan. Once it had gotten into everybody's head, even Clara's – which took longer than wanted – the knight talked to Lance, and told him to be at her house with Chestnut at midnight. He did not question the urgency of the demand, but complied without a moment's hesitation. The Doctor was told to stay at his friend's house for the night, and River was asked to erase his memory of the plan, so that he would not be accused of treason. Amy had thought about all the possible outcomes of this plan, and thought it was flawless, and that she would get all the blame. 

The red-head sighed as night fell and she saw her pup turn into a massive wolf. Everything was in motion. Lance, Chestnut, and the Doctor were safe and away from the castle, whereas the King and Zachary were the opposite. Clara let her friend sit on her back, and she ran out the gates almost slipping on the pools of liquid that was on the floor.  

"Clara wait!" Amy shouted when they got to the gates, and she did so. "Just need to wait..." 

As soon as she said that Zachary appeared in the door and ran towards Cali in the nearby stable. The scot sighed sadly, and threw the torch she was holding on the floor once she saw the King with his sword. As soon as the bright orange flame hit the water-looking substance the whole castle was lit up, and the horses went frantic at the fire. 

"Go!" Amelia yelled at her pup. She didn’t need telling twice as she bolted off towards the gates of the village. Everybody in the village ran out of their homes, and were startled by the giant canine running pass them, and the roaring fire at the castle. Clara suddenly got nervous at all the people staring at her, and slowed down. When the rider realised this, she petted and whispered in her ear, "c'mon Clara, you can do it." 

Suddenly a horse's neigh was heard, and Zachary emerged from the shadows on Cali. That was all the motivation the wolf needed to speed up. Eventually, they all reached the outskirts of the woods, and Clara started to tire, but Zachary did not give up.  

"Face me you beast!" He shouted over the sound of hooves and paws on the ground.  As he got closer he grabbed his dagger, and decided to throw it to try to slow her down, so he did. He didn't hear or see it clang to the floor, but he didn't hear a painful yelp either. However, there was a loud _thud_ , and the sounds of running came to a halt.  

Clara suddenly felt weight lifted off her shoulders, and turned to see Amy on the floor in a small shallow pool of her own blood with a dagger in her back. She whimpered and crawled over to her friend, who smiled and weakly put her hand to her snout.  

"A-Amy," Clara whimpered as she moved her snout closer to her slightly, eager for her touch.  

"C-Clara..." She croaked out. "Run." 

The wolf shook her head, "N-Not without you..." 

Cali stopped in front them as Zachary jumped off with his sword in hand, and the wolf growled at him. When he saw his best friend on the floor with his dagger in her back, he felt a lump in the back of his throat, and tried to bat away tears. "You monster! You killed her!"  

"Oh, shut it Zach," River appeared and swung a sword to him, beheading him. The wolf jumped at the sudden death, and Cali ran off as soon as her rider was struck with the blade. "Ugh, I really hated him," the witch groaned as she made him disappear, and waved her hand in her creation's direction. 

An orange glow surrounded Clara, and she turned human. "A-Amy please," she cried as she shakily grabbed her hands. "D-Do not die." 

"H-Hey, it is okay," she smiled weakly. "I d-did this... This is my fault... I w-went too far. I-I burnt my h-home down... I broke a-all the rules... B-But that is alright..." 

"N-No, stop it... You are saying goodbye, d-do not s-say goodbye," Clara whined as she leaned in closer. "P-Please... T-There has to be s-something I can do..." 

"Smile for me." 

"W-What?" 

"G-Go on," Amy squeezed her pup's hand comfortingly. "Clara Oswald, one last time." 

"H-How could I smile?" The brunette sobbed.  

"I-It is okay," the knight put her blood-covered hand to Clara's face, and caressed it one last time. "G-Goodbye, p-pup..." And with that her hand fell to the ground, and her body went limp.  

Clara couldn't hear a heartbeat, and started to cry again. "I am sorry Clara," River appeared behind her, making her jump. "I did not expect this to happen." 

"Save her," the she-wolf turned to her creator. "P-Please, save her. I-I d-do not care w-what it c-costs." 

"I cannot revive the dead, Clara," River told sternly. "However, I guess I could do something... I guess I could revive her, but not all of her." 

"W-What do you mean?" 

"Her body and personality, yes. Her memories however, no. If I do this she will not remember you, or anyone from her past. And she cannot ever remember the village, or she will die. I am not joking, she will go insane and most likely kill herself or die of shock. She can remember you, but not anyone else. Do you understand?" 

Clara nodded. "P-Please..." 

"She will wake up for a moment, say her name so that she can subconsciously remember it. After that she will be unconscious for a few days," the woman explained as she created an orange glow above the corpse.  

Suddenly, the scot awoke with a gasp and shot upwards, "Amy!" Clara shrieked, but her friend collapsed to the ground.  

"I know that she was the knight, but I guess this time you were her knight in shining armour... Funny is it not? Well, I guess you were both each other's," she smiled down at her, but only got a confused look from the girl. "Anyway, I disintegrated the knife, and I will take you two to the cave. But you are on your own after," the witch said, and took them to the cave.  "Farewell." 

Clara was about to speak, but her creator was gone in a flash. The girl merely looked down and watched her friend, and noticed her chest rise and fall. Once the realization that her friend was going to be okay, despite the memory loss, tears started to fall once more. Clara could not help but gently stroke the long red hair, and mutter to herself.  

"Amy... My Amy... I am so glad that you are safe...Thank you." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this wasn't anticlimactic... 
> 
> But hey, good news (hopefully), there's going to be an EPILOGUE after this that shows how Amy copes with the amnesia, and it delves a bit more into Clara's past. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and reviewing (looking at you Wolfie) this story, and baring with my space of not updating, and my writing skills. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have! 
> 
> -Nate


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